From : Martin Bahmann <M.Bahmann@geisenheim.mnd.fh-wiesbaden.de>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Subject : ATTN JMS: And now for a word JMS- viewer reaction after SiL
Date : 23 Apr 1999 06:54:38 -0600
Dear JMS!
Nearly two weeks ago (4/10/99), the German speaking B5-community
(Germany,Austria and Switzerland) saw Sleeping in Light on TV.
While our comprehensive discussion in de.rec.sf.babylon5.misc still
continues, we (some of the users in de.rec.sf.babylon5.misc) thought
that it would be great to say good-bye to you and drop a more or less
personal comment about SiL and/or Babylon 5 to you.
Best wishes for the future and greetings from drsb5.m.
Martin on behalf of all the others
******
Babylon 5 is now over in Germany. I want to thank you for 5 years of
great entertainment.
Michael Adelmann (MichaelAdelmann@gmx.de)
******
"Zathras happy once, saw a great show once, but station exploded, very
sad..."
carsten.witte@gmx.de (Carsten Witte)
******
Dear JMS,
I just wanted to thank your for this great series. I missed the greater
part of the first season, but I've been watching every episode since
then. It's difficult to find the right words to describe my feelings now
that the show is over.
Sleeping in Light moved me to tears so that I almost couldn't read the
end credits. Babylon 5 will always remain something special, and I'm
sure a lot of people will remember it, and think back, even in years (or
decades). Thank you!
Thomas Bruckner (thomas.bruckner@netway.at)
******
Dear JMS.
Thank you for creating the most memorable TV-Series of all time. The
first "true" Science Fiction-Series, the first which could actually
compete with some of the greatest written works of this genre. The 20th
Century had to end before this finally happenend (it was about time ;)
and we can be nothing more than eternally grateful.
In the years as I watched Babylon5, the show strangely correlated with
my life, now as iam near to end my University-Study, preparing for a new
phase in my Life, I can nothing do as to wonder about this strange
coincidence. Televison as an artform, died yesterday after reaching its
peak. Thank YOU! Thank you ALL!
Aleksandar Guzijan <guzijan@stud.uni-frankfurt.de>
******
Dear JMS,
with "Sleeping In Light" still bright in my memory ... I would like to
thank you for a great show that I will always remember as something
unique and inspiring.
Also a great 'thank you' to all the actors and crew who made your vision
a dream given form. You will all be missed very badly. But in the end a
quote from you, The Great Maker, comes to my mind:
"The road goes ever on. -- And somewhere on that road is a five mile
long spinning tin can with a quarter million people on it."
Berit Lempe ( isilzha@gmx.net )
Germany
******
Dear JMS!
First...SiL was a very touching episode. Special thanks for making it
*so* good (and the same for Chris Franke).
And thank you and the whole B5-team for a great SciFi-Show (after a long
term of Star Trek domination now without doubt our #1), a lot of
beautiful moments,especially with Kosh, Londo and G'Kar, for your online
presence, for the background for good and comprehensive discussions with
new friends on the usenet and - last but not least - for a lot of new
friends in the real life. Babylon 5 was not only a great SciFi-Show; it
was also a very nice joyfull part of our life during the last years.
We want to wish you and all the others from the team all the best for
the next years, for your projects, for Crusade. Without any doubt, we
will hear from you again :-)
Yours
Karin Langner-Bahmann and Martin Bahmann
(M.Bahmann@geisenheim.fbl.fh-wiesbaden.de)
******
Thanks for Babylon 5. Good work, well done.
Greetings
Marc (Marc.Haber-usenet@gmx.de)
******
Dear JMS,
when I was watching the pilot some years ago I didn't think that this
show would really grip me. I was wrong. By the middle of the first
season I began to watch Babylon 5 regularly and I never again missed a
single episode.
After all these years it's even more fun to watch earlier episodes. Now
I understand the meaning of all the little hints and details and I'm
still amazed how everything just fits perfectly. Yesterday I saw the
final episode which was indescribable beautiful and touching. When the
station exploded and during the end credits I had tears in my eyes (an
outstanding soundtrack!).
Thank you for this wonderful story and the joy you brought into my life
(Now I just hope that they will show the TV movies soon in German TV and
that Crusade will get its chance! And how great would two TV-movies
about the Telepath-War and Centauri Prime be!). All the best,
Yours
Manuel Puppis from Switzerland, puppis@pop.agri.ch
******
Dear JMS,
today I watched Sleeping in Light and now my most favourite TV-series is
over. I've been watching B5 for almost six years and is has changed my
life. Now I want to thank you for the greatest television show of all
times.
I also want to thank you for being online all this years, where you
communicated with us (the fans) and helped us to better understand the
world you created. After all these years of watching B5, I can only
quote Sinclair and say: "Nothing is the same anymore!"
I hope, that Crusade will also endure five years on the tv-screen, so
that I can post this again in five years.
Yours sincerely
Simon (simon.synopsis@gmx.de)
******
Dear jms
Today was the last day.
Today was a sad day.
Today, we saw "Sleeping in Light".
For almost six years, I have been watching Babylon 5 with great pleasure
and interest. Now it's over and I would like to thank you for this great
show.
The best thing about it is IMHO the concept, aka "Story-Arc". It was a
very good idea to plan the whole show and to work out a concept for five
years. As we all know, there were some difficulties, and the fifth
season was not as good as the others (IMHO), but summa summarum the
concept worked out. Let's hope that other tv-producers will be inspired
by your work, so that we will see lots of great things like B5 during
the next years.
OK, the only thing remaining to say is that I hope the best for
"Crusade"; it would be sad if the Babylon 5 universe would not survive
on the tv-screen.
Greetings from Switzerland
Thomas (tkhobbes@gmx.net)
******
"Dear JMS,
as a devoted fan to Babylon 5 from the very first episode on I would
like to thank you for all the hours of entertainment and the moments
of joy you brought with your series into my life, and that of so many
others. Speaking of such moments a quote of Delenn comes to my mind:
'Savor the moments, for they will never come again.', and surely she
is right about it."
- Sebastian Bergmann <bergman@informatik.uni-bonn.de>
******
Watching B5 not only gave me joy and a new meaning to Saturday
afternoons (the time when the show was broadcast in german
television), but it also had a couple of pleasant side effects. It
improved my ability to understand spoken English (by watching the
original version) and I really loved all the discussions in our
newsgroup sparked by the events in B5. And most importantly I got to
know several fans of the show living in my area, so we are now meeting
regularly and having a great deal of fun together.
Barbara Koenig (koenigb@informatik.tu-muenchen.de)
******
Ever since B5 started in Germany four years ago, I have been watching
the show. At the beginning, after the Pilot movie and the first few
episodes, I had doubts. But then, when I saw "And the Sky Full of
Stars", and "Signs and Portents" ... I fell in love with the show. It
has always been a unique, exciting experience and now that I've seen
the whole story, I can but thank you for telling it to us. It made me
- and many friends I won through B5 - wonder, it made us laugh and
cry and think. Which, I believe, qualifies it as a real great success.
I like to consider B5 a novel, as you do, and I am looking forward to
re-reading it at some time in the future. Though there are a few
chapters that I do not like, of course, on the whole it was really,
really good. It gave and inspired me more than you could possibly
imagine.
My very best wishes,
Frank Zander
Frank.Zander@swol.de
******
Dear Mr. Straczynski,
when I first heard about that new science fiction show, Babylon 5, I
thought it would be yet another Star Trek rip-off - I didn't even bother
to watch the pilot. But I accidentaly saw the season-one-episode
"Believers," and afterwards I realized that B5 was indeed different. I
learned that it is possible to depict "real" people in a TV show, their
belief systems, their inner conflicts and their struggle to behave
according to their principles.
Since then I have become a die-hard fan; and now that it is over, I want
to thank you for these five years of great TV entertainment. In my
opinion B5 was the best science fiction show on television, and I hope
that there will be more like it.
Sincerely,
Oliver Kreylos (okreylos@gallagher.cipic.ucdavis.edu)
******
Dear JMS,
in Germany we saw SiL last week. It was a sad day because it's over now.
I would like to thank you for the many hours I could enjoy this
magnificent show. Especially I like the five-year-arc because it gives
the possibility to watch the change of characters.
Now knowing the whole story I think it will be very interesting to see
it again and find and understand all the little hidden hints. I know
there are still much stories to tell about the Babylon 5 universe and
hope you will get the chance to tell us some of it.
Wishing you the best for the future
Lutz Kirmse <kirmse@k.htwk-leipzig.de>
******
I don't really know what to say, so I'll tell it in one word:
THANKS!
Thanks for a new kind of SF and a great show which enriched my life.
Thanks to all who helped to make it that good.
Bye
Yvonne <yfischer@minet.uni-jena.de>
******
Dear JMS,
in the beginning I watched B5 not regularly and thought that it was just
a kind of ST clone, but after seeing "Crysalis" I recognized that this
was completely different and I haven't missed an episode since! In my
opinion you managed to combine the depth and beauty of "Lord of the
Rings" with the fun and action of "Star Wars" creating something
wonderful and unique which despite all its flaws was the best SF TV
series I ever saw!
Thanks to you and all the people responsible, especially Ron Thornton
and the CGI guys for the great visuals and Christopher Franke for the
touching music!
--
Werner Spahl (ui22273@sun1.lrz-muenchen.de)"Freedom for Vorlonships"
******
Dear JMS,
Thanks so much for letting us in on your vision of the future. Your
story often made me lough but also cry - and it sometimes just gave
me the creeps. What attracted me most to this show, however, were your
characterizations. Somehow you managed just that when I thought I knew
Londo, Michael or G'Kar they do something unexpectable, "completely
out of their character".
Well, there is nothing else to say than that Babylon 5 has been a
large part of my life for the last couple of years - and because of
our discussions here in this newsgroup (which I discovered rather late)
Babylon 5 will not be forgotten for a long time to come.
Best wishes, Claudia Wlaschuetz ( dina29@gmx.net )
******
Dear JMS,
Babylon5 went into it's final episode here last sunday. It was a
very touching, 45 minutes-long "goodbye" and I loved it. As I love
the whole show. Almost everything about it is great. Even if it didn't
always come out as it may have been planned in the beginning.
I know you put more into the project then words can ever say. Just
"thank you" appears to be inaproppriate - at best. But it's the best
that we - your audience - can do besides holding the show dear and
remember what it gave us - which is what I will do for as long as
I'll remember it. So Thank You! A lot. For Babylon 5 - one of the
most extraordinary impressions put into the memory of this boy's life.
Benjamin Schmaedig (gkylatnarn@gmx.net)
******
Babylon 5? Been there. Seen that. (And enjoyed it!)
No Babylon 5 today, Crusade tomorrow. Look somebody got to have some
damn perspective around here. Crusade. Sooner or later CRUSADE!"
Thanks to JMS, the actors and the B5-Team that gave this dream form.
---- Christoph Biegner, (chbiegner@gmx.net)
******
I watched every single episode of B5. Not every episode was a winner,
but many was.
SiL was a great, wonderful and emotional goodbye to the show and the
main characters.
I'll miss B5...
Martin Seebacher <martin.seebacher@netway.at>
******
Dear Mr Straczynski,
Once I saw a film called "The Gathering". After watching it I was
quite confused about the questions it left unanswered in its story.
Later, German television should air a whole TV series set at the
space station called "Babylon 5". I took a look at it hoping to see
answers to those questions. But when I thought I knew many of them
the growing arc and the strange atmosphere had caught me for a long
time. Years should pass, and every new episode led me deeper into the
labyrinth of your vast story, its monumental and Lovecraftian mood,
its characters, Christopher Franke's impressive music and the
beautiful computer-made pictures.
Now I saw the end of it: "Sleeping in Light". On the one hand I feel
a little sad that it's over; but on the other hand I regard it as the
superb culmination you had in mind when you created "Babylon 5" -
from the beginning there were no episodes following in this TV series.
In Germany, "Babylon 5" is finished. It's time for the applause, the
standing ovations.
Thank you very much for many hours of intelligent entertainment,
effective drama and also some funny lines.
Yours sincerely,
Christian Heller <heller@vossnet.de>
******
Dear J. Michael Straczynski,
I would like to thank you. I would like to thank you for telling me
and all the others the story of Babylon 5.
You told for one hour a week one "chapter" of Babylon 5. I sat in
front of the TV with wide opened eyes, ears and mouth, so unbelievable
fantastic was this story. And I was looking forward to the next show
like a child waiting for X-mas. (Now I'm waiting for Crusade...)
I realized very early that this show is something completely new and
something very special and so I watched every single show. But now the
story of Babylon 5 has reached its end and it's to me like having lost
something very valuable. I haven't even 10 shows on videotape, I have
to remember the most. But even if I've forgotten many things, I can
say that Babylon 5 is the best TV-show I've ever seen. And I will
always remember John Sheridan, Susan Ivanowa, Michael Garibaldi,
G'Kar, Londo Molari, Kosh and all the others and I will keep them
like a treasure in my heart. For this treasure I have to thank you,
JMS, and all the other people responsible for this show.
I owe you all something. This letter is the fewest I can give.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU ALL FOR FIVE GREAT YEARS!
Yours
Daniel Wachs <daniel.wachs@gmx.de>
******
Every Saga has a beginning .... Babylon 5 has also a great finish!
Michael Pieper (michael@augusta.de)
******
Dear JMS,
now that the airing of B5 has been completed in Germany, I would like
to thank for that magnificent SF show. I was completely hooked after
seeing it twice or so, and I continued to enjoy it until the very end
last week. Of course, it also had its shortcomings: Sometimes it was
too melodramatic and kitschy for my taste, and season 5 was rather
stretched with respect to its contents. And, last not least, we all in
germany had to suffer the sometimes all-to-inventive dubbing (which
translated quite a few things completely wrong).
Still, with its depth, its wide-spanned plot and the complex web
of references across the episodes, and with its attempt to be
more realistic and less idealistic then some other shows I could
mention :-), it was certainly *the* best SF show we have at present.
I can only hope that you will have the opportunity to keep up
the good work with Crusade, and that we all will eventually
have a chance to see it.
Dirk Thierbach <thierbach@mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de>
******
Babylon 5 clearly sets a new standard for television-shows,
but moreover it's an example of top level storytelling.
All the threads and knots of the tapestry are well designed
and holding firm together.
The few minor flaws can only be found by looking quite close.
But by stepping back, the real masterpiece reveals itself.
I'm very impressed by it and I want to express my deep
admiration and gratitude. - Thank you for Babylon 5.
Dirk Kamp <kamp@iet.mavt.ethz.ch>
******
At last, there are some fans who just want to say thanks without any
further comments:
* Silvio Tschoecke (Silvio.Tschoecke@t-online.de)
* Matthias Wallner (matthias.wallner@gmx.at)
* Armin Wacker (wacker@berg.net)
* Hilko Meyer (Hilko.Meyer@gmx.de)
* Ralph Gericke (R.Gericke@t-online.de)
* Oliver Gassner (fraktal@gmx.de)
* Andre Canis (canis@cs.uni-bonn.de)
* Hendrik Seffler (hseffler@uni-paderborn.de)
* Claudia Reinhardt, Henning Schoettke (flohbus@flohbus.bonbit.org)
* Robert Vogel (robert@raumschrott.de)
**************************************

From : jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Subject : Re: ATTN JMS: And now for a word JMS- viewer reaction after SiL
Date : 24 Apr 1999 20:43:17 -0600
Please convey to those on de.rec.sf.babylon5.misc my thanks, both to them and
to all the B5 fans in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It's amazing to watch
the end of the show roll out across the planet, with each new country
experiencing the conclusion in a new wave each time.
Pardon the spellings and grammar in what follows, this is massively ugly on my
part, all from memory, but:
Meinen Deutsch ist nicht gut, aber zu alles B5folk auf de.rec.sf.babylon5.misc,
Deutschland, Ostterreich und Switzerland: Danke Sie.
jms